The NewPlan Blog
Sales v. Product Management: Why Can't We All Just Get Along
In a growing tech company, sales needs product management and vice versa, but, too often, these two functions don’t get along. The result can be disastrous: Misaligned products, missed sales goals, lots of finger pointing, and too much employee turnover. As you think about scaling your company, you should ask yourself this critical question: How do we get Product Management and Sales working from the same script?
The Six Secrets to a Successful Product
Product launches like the iPhone are one in ten million, but successful product launches happen quite frequently (albeit with a lot less fanfare). I’ve worked with hundreds of companies from garage stage to the Fortune 1000 over the last 25 years. My work has spanned corporate strategy, go-to-market approaches, and product positioning, I’ve seen a lot of successful products come to market and a larger number that “coulda beena contendah” but fell flat. Here are my keys to building and launching a successful product:
Don't Build Your Company to be a One Trick Pony
High tech CEOs face a “One Trick Pony” dilemma. After all, birthing that first product was incredibly difficult, and the customer response has been great. Your company is making enough money to stay in business, so why wouldn’t your company just do more of the same? Because becoming a one trick pony can happen overnight, and the impact can be catastrophic.
Case Study: StoredIQ (Now IBM)
NewPlan served as the outsourced Head of Strategy for four and a half years - working with the company to formulate a compelling and durable strategy, acheive several fundraising events, recruitment of new management team members, and the eventual sale of the company to IBM in 2013.